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DevelopingLeaders
ISSUE 10: 2013
Executive Education in Practice
The Power of Coaching
WEF’s Global Leadership Fellows Program
Managing the Unpredictable
Columbia’s Mike Malefakis interviewed
Leading Professional Service Firms
Hogan Lovells’ Alison Nolan
Future Formula for Leadership
AstraZeneca and Duke CE
Global CEOs Program
IESE, Wharton and CEIBS
Experts Vs. Managers as CEOs
Amanda Goodall
The Leader’s Dilemma
IEDP Leadership Development Summit
www.iedp.com
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Character: The Essence
of Leadership
10 character virtues of a good leader. How do you measure up?
By Gerard Seijts,
Jeffrey Gandz,
Mary Crossan and
Mark Reno
In assessing leaders at any level in an organization, we must always ask three questions.
First, do they have the competencies to be a leader? Second, do they have the commitment
to be a leader? Are leaders prepared to do the hard work of leadership, engage with
others in fulfilling the organizational mission, achieve the vision and deliver on the goals?
And third, do they have the character to be a good leader and strive to be an even better
one? Do they have the values, traits and virtues that others – shareholders, employees,
customers, suppliers, regulators and the broader society within which they operate – will
use to determine if they are good leaders?
In this article, we want to focus on leadership character, not because it is necessarily
more important than competencies and commitment, but because it is the most difficult
to define, measure, assess and develop. Our intent is to define those dimensions of
leadership character that, we believe, are most important in today’s rapidly changing and
turbulent business environment, and suggest how character can be developed.
Developing Leaders Issue 10: 2013 | 11
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Why Character Matters
For some reason we have lost sight of character. Perhaps this is because our educational
system and organizations are so competency focused; perhaps because we just do
not know what to think about character; perhaps because character seem such an old‐
fashioned word; perhaps because we are reluctant to discuss examples of poor character
with our colleagues in the workplace, or because we believe we cannot assess character
objectively. Yet character is such an important element of leadership that it should not and
cannot be ignored. Character fundamentally shapes how we engage the world around us,
what we notice, what we reinforce, who we engage in conversation, what we value, what
we choose to act on, how we decide, and so forth.
Our research on the failures of leadership points to character as a central theme. Nowhere
was this more obvious than in the financial crisis of 2008 – 2009. Boldness or instant
gratification triumphed over temperance. People who knew that bad risks were being
taken did not have the courage or confidence to speak up. People without integrity sold
mortgages to those who could not pay them; and they then bundled these mortgages into
securities that were fraudulent and sold to others. Leaders of companies who knew about
these types of practices did nothing to stop them. Still others were unable to create the
honest, transparent corporate culture that would enable them to be in touch with what
was happening deep down in the organization. All these behaviours and activities were,
essentially, failings of character.
Defining Character
There is no consensus on a definition of character. In our discussion of character, we
focus on personality traits, values and virtues.
Traits
Personality traits are defined as habitual patterns of thought, behaviour and emotion
that are considered to be relatively stable in individuals across situations and over time.
Traits are not fixed. For example, introverts may be able to learn how to behave in a less
introverted way, while extroverts may learn how to control and moderate their extroverted
Figure 1: Leadership Competencies, Character and Commitment
1
COMPETENCIES
People
Competencies
Character
•  Values
•  Virtues
•  Traits
Organizational
Competencies
INTELLECT
Business
Competencies
Commitment
•  Aspiration
•  Engagement
•  Sacrifice
Strategic
Competencies
"Competencies"
KNOWLEDGE:
Facts, figures,
concepts, etc.
UNDERSTANDING:
Relationships,
context, significance,
materiality, etc.
12 | Developing Leaders Issue 10: 2013
SKILLS:
Analyzing, decision-making,
communicating, getting
things done, teaming, etc,
JUDGEMENT:
Using intuition, timing,
methods to use, who to
involve, how to do it, etc.
Viewpoint
Character fundamentally shapes how we engage the world
around us, what we notice, what we reinforce, who we engage in
conversation, what we value, what we choose to act on.
behaviours when situations require it. Traits also evolve through life experiences –
childhood, education, families, role models and social experiences – and deliberate
developmental exercises such as coaching. There are, literally, hundreds of personality
traits from A (ambition) to Z (zealousness) that have been described in the literature.
Values
Values are beliefs that people have about what is important or worthwhile to them. Values
influence behaviour because people seek more of what they value. Examples of values
include autonomy, transparency, the opportunity to be creative or innovative, acting in
an environmentally friendly way, the importance of work‐life balance, and so on. An
individual’s values are in large part derived from the social environment in which he or she
lives. For example, if we are brought up with strong religious traditions, some of us develop
values based on the teachings of those religions. Similarly, our value frameworks may be
influenced by our home life, fraternal societies we join, experiences during our education,
the companies we work for, our friends, and many other social influences. Values may
change with life stages and according to the extent to which a particular value has already
been realized.
An important sub‐set of values consists of those with ethical or social dimensions, such as
honesty, integrity, compassion, fairness, charity and social responsibility. Such values may
be strongly or weakly held and influence behaviour accordingly.
Values may be espoused though they may not necessarily be manifested. For example,
it is not unusual for people to experience value conflicts in certain situations: when
loyalty conflicts with honesty or when social responsibility conflicts with obligation to
shareholders.
Virtues
From the time of the ancient Greeks, philosophers have defined certain clusters of
traits, values and behaviours as “good,” and referred to them as virtues. Virtues are like
behavioural habits – something that is exhibited fairly consistently.
Aristotle identified and defined twelve virtues: Courage, Temperance, Generosity,
Magnificence, Magnanimity, Right Ambition, Good Temper, Friendliness, Truthfulness, Wit,
and Justice. The twelfth virtue is Practical Wisdom, which is necessary to live the “good
life” and thus achieve happiness or well-being.
Consider the virtue of Courage. Traits such as openness to experience, self-confidence
and persistence contribute to individuals acting in distinctive ways – for example, putting
themselves on the line and acting in a courageous fashion. Having values such as integrity,
treating individuals with respect and achievement predisposes individuals to demonstrate
courageous behaviour. Then there is a set of actual behaviours that individuals engage in
and that friends, colleagues and observers characterize or describe as courageous. These
behaviours may have become societal expectations.
14 | Developing Leaders Issue 10: 2013
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Figure 2: Leadership Virtues
HUMILITY
Open-minded; modest;
reflective; continuous
learner; grateful
INTEGRITY
Authentic; candid;
transparent; principled;
consistent
TRANSCENDENCE
Appreciative;
inspired; purposive;
future-oriented;
optimistic
COLLABORATION
Cooperative; collegial;
respectful; flexible;
interconnected
DRIVE
Passionate; dynamic;
vigorous;
results-oriented;
strives for excellence
COURAGE
Brave; decisive;
determined;
tenacious; resilient
ACCOUNTABILITY
JUDGEMENT
Self-aware;
contextually aware;
cognitively complex;
analytical; criticalthinker; intuitive;
insightful;
creative; pragmatic
HUMANITY
Considerate; empathetic;
compassionate;
magnanimous; forgiving
Demonstrates initiative;
takes ownership;
accepts consequences;
conscientious; responsible
TEMPERANCE
Prudent; patient; calm;
composed; selfcontrolled
JUSTICE
Fair; equitable;
proportionate; evenhanded; socially
responsible
The 10 virtues of a business leader
We propose that business leaders who focus on the long-term performance of their
organizations must demonstrate 10 virtues plus an over-riding or über-virtue.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Humility is essential to learning and becoming a better leader.
Integrity is essential to building trust and encouraging others to collaborate.
Collaboration enables collegiality and teamwork.
Justice yields decisions that are accepted as legitimate and reasonable by others.
Courage helps leaders make difficult decisions and challenge the decisions or
actions of others.
Temperance ensures that leaders take reasonable risks.
Accountability ensures that leaders own and commit to the decisions they make
and encourages the same in others.
Humanity builds empathy and understanding of others.
Transcendence equips the leader with a sense of optimism and purpose.
Drive implies that the leaders acts with passion and vigor in the pursuit of excellence.
Judgement allows leaders to balance and integrate these virtues in ways that serve
the needs of multiple stakeholders in and outside their organizations.
Our thinking draws heavily on work by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman who
identified six virtues (Wisdom, Justice, Humanity, Temperance, Transcendence and
Courage) after extensive consideration of traits and behaviours empirically identified
among leaders. We have added five others that we feel reflect virtues considered to be
important in business leaders (Collaboration, Drive, Humility, Integrity and Accountability)
and modified Wisdom to the more commonly used Judgment.
Consider what may happen when business leaders lack these virtues - the effects on
people and organizations are quite obvious.
16 | Developing Leaders Issue 10: 2013
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A strong ego that has been built to defend one’s identity makes it difficult
to develop humility and thus be open to learning experiences.
Without Humility leaders cannot be open‐minded, and solicit and consider the views
of others. They can’t learn from others. They can’t reflect critically on their failures and
become better leaders as a result of those reflections.
Without Integrity leaders cannot build good relationships with followers, with their
organizational superiors, with allies or partners. Every promise has to be guaranteed and
the resulting mistrust slows down decisions and actions.
Without Collaboration leaders will fail to achieve those worthwhile goals that require
more than individual effort and skills. They do not use the diversity of others’ knowledge,
experience, perceptions, judgments and skills to make better decisions and to execute
them better. Friction results among stakeholders and relations deteriorate.
Without a sense of Justice, leaders are unable to understand the issues of social inequality
and the challenges associated with fairness. Such leaders act in unfair ways and reap
negative consequences in the form of poor employee relations or reactions by customers,
governments and regulators. People will rebel and find ways to undermine the leader.
Without Courage leaders will not stand up to poor decisions made by others and will lack
the perseverance and tenacity required to work through difficult issues. They will also
back down in the face of adversity and choose the easy route.
Without Temperance leaders take uncalculated risks, rush to judgment, fail to gather
relevant facts, have no sense of proportion, and make frequent and damaging changes or
even reverse important decisions. Their credibility suffers.
Without Accountability leaders do not commit to, or own, the decisions they make, and
cannot get others to do so. They blame others for poor outcomes and in doing so create
a culture of fear and disengagement. People stop caring, with potentially disastrous
consequences.
Without Humanity leaders are unable to relate to others, see situations from their followers’
perspectives or take into account the impact of their decisions on others. Without humanity
leaders will not act in socially responsible ways – they will alienate people.
Without Transcendence leaders’ goals become narrow and they fail to elevate discussions
to higher‐order goals. They do not see the bigger picture and hence their decisions may
reflect opportunism only. They do not think outside the box or encourage others to do so.
Without Drive, and the associated character elements of passion, dynamism, vigor and
excellence, the leader will never exert the mental and physical effort it takes to become
successful and create value for the enterprise.
Without Judgment leaders make flawed decisions, especially when they must act quickly
in ambiguous situations and when faced with the many paradoxes that confront all leaders
from time to time.
Developing Leaders Issue 10: 2013 | 17
Viewpoint
When leadership profiles only address competencies
and commitment, they implicitly, if unintentionally,
suggest that character is not important.
Aristotle was clear in stating that virtues become vices in their excess or deficiency. For
example, courage in its excess is recklessness while in its deficiency it is cowardice. Too
much humility may lead followers to question the leader’s toughness, resulting in a lack
of confidence. But without it, leaders make ill‐advised decisions and are unable to learn.
Transcendence in excess can result in leaders becoming vacuous visionaries, unable to
focus on the here and now and the more mundane decisions that need to be made. But
without transcendence, leaders focus on narrow, short‐term goals.
The challenge for leaders, therefore, is to deepen or strengthen a virtue through reflection,
and hence avoid turning a virtue such as Courage into the vice of excess (Recklessness)
or a lack of it (Cowardice).
Scholars who study behaviour in organizations have been interested in traits, values and
virtues associated with good leadership. Virtuous leaders are influenced by their traits
and values but they also balance and integrate them in ways that are appropriate to the
situations in which they operate. For example, while leaders may be transparent by nature,
they are able to keep a confidence or secret when it is appropriate to do so. And while
they may be courageous, they will understand which battles to fight and which to avoid.
Character Development
Individuals can develop their own character strengths, leaders can help followers develop
their character, and organizations can and should enable character development to take
place.
How Character Develops
Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle viewed character as something that is formed,
subconsciously, through repetitive behaviour that is either rewarded or rewarding. The
habit of character is formed along with a myriad of other habits which both enable and
constrain us, and that can be both productive and counterproductive. The interesting thing
about habits is that we are often unaware of them.
Character of course shapes our thoughts, words, actions, habits and so on. Yet, habits may
prevent the development of character. For example, a strong ego that has been built to
defend one’s identity makes it difficult to develop humility and thus be open to learning
experiences. So, when people believe that character is developed at an early age, they are
in part correct, since there comes a time when habits are difficult to break.
It is not surprising then that it often takes profound life events to liberate us from the
cages we have constructed for ourselves. Such crucible events force people to confront
the impact of their trait-and value-driven behaviours, and their self-concept of virtuosity.
Being fired, having your work praised or criticized, being passed over for a promotion
or being promoted when you did not think you were ready for it, or being accused of
harassment, plagiarism or other forms of unethical behaviour are all examples of events
that can shape character.
18 | Developing Leaders Issue 10: 2013
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Creating a
culture of
constructive
dissent so
that others
may challenge
your decisions
without fear of
consequences
requires
character.
Less dramatic but no less important are those events that reinforce good character. The
acknowledgement, praise, recognition or reward that come to people for doing the right
thing or acting in the right way are critical to character development, especially when
offered during an individual’s formative years. Selection for a valued assignment or a
promotion further reinforces such behaviours and hence, the development of character.
Even normal everyday occurrences offer the opportunity for character development, since
it is not something separate from one’s job or life, but rather a part of them. Reflection
about why you might be impatient, stubborn or careless provides the raw material for
examining and developing character.
Senior Leadership and Organizational
Commitment to Character Development
There is much that senior leaders in organizations can do to develop leadership character
in others. Simply talking about character, making it a legitimate and valued topic of
conversation, stimulates discussion and facilitates individual reflection. When organizations
develop leadership profiles and address leadership character in those profiles, they
emphasize the importance of leadership and promote discussion of it, especially in the
context of developmental coaching. Conversely, when leadership profiles only address
competencies and commitment, they implicitly, if unintentionally, suggest that character
is not important.
Even explicit values statements in organizations often turn out to be nothing more than
posters or plaques on the wall. Unless they are formulated in the context of the work that
people are doing, and in a meaningful way, they tend to be ignored. Anything that senior
management attends to is considered important; anything ignored is marginalized. For the
most part, people do not learn values and virtues by osmosis. Values need to be addressed
explicitly in the organization’s coaching and mentoring, reinforced through training and
development, and actively used in recruitment, selection and succession management.
Developing Leaders Issue 10: 2013 | 19
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Personal Commitment to Character Building
Warren Bennis addressed the role of individual responsibility in becoming a better leader
when he said: “The leader never lies to himself, especially about himself, knows his flaws
as well as his assets, and deals with them directly. You are your own raw material. When
you know what you consist of and what you want to make of it, then you can invent
yourself.” This is relevant to leadership character as much as it is to competencies and
commitment. It requires a degree of self-awareness, a preparedness to examine habitual
behaviours and consider whether there may not be better ways of leading than the ones
that have worked, more or less, for you in the past. We limit our development as leaders
by not having the discipline and courage to assess ourselves honestly.
Why Character Really Matters!
Character is foundational for effective decision‐making. Clearly, mistakes are made
because of a leader’s shortcomings in his or her competencies. More often, the root
cause is a failing of character. For example, not recognizing or not willing to admit that
you do not have the requisite competencies to succeed in the leadership role is rooted
in character. Challenging decisions being made by others but which you feel are wrong
requires character. Creating a culture of constructive dissent so that others may challenge
your decisions without fear of consequences requires character.
Character is not something that you have or do not have – the key is the depth of
development of each facet of character that enables us to lead. And every situation
presents a different experience and opportunity to learn and deepen character. No-one
is perfect when it comes to character, and given that its development is a lifelong journey,
we will rise to the occasion in some situations and disappoint ourselves and those around
us in others. We need to appreciate what it takes to develop the habits around character,
and to enable the conversations within ourselves and with others that strengthen rather
than undermine character.
The question is not really why character matters, but why it does not get the attention
and respect it warrants. For character to find the spotlight it deserves, leaders need to
illuminate it. We believe organizations should move beyond statements of organizational
values to anchor leadership development in profiles that define what makes a leader
good, in addition to defining what good leaders do.
Competencies count, character matters and commitment to the leadership role is critical
to the leader’s success. Our experience is that a renewed focus on character sparks the
best in people and fuels them in their personal journeys to become better leaders. We
see the process of learning to lead as a journey that enables people to bring the best of
themselves to support and enable others, ensure that the organizations they work with
perform at the highest level, and in doing so, contribute to the society in which they operate.
Mary Crossan is Professor of Strategic
Management and the Taylor/Mingay Chair in
Business Policy at the Richard Ivey School of
Business, University of Western Ontario.
Mark Reno is a lecturer in General Management
at Richard Ivey School of Business. His
research interests are in the area of leadership
integrity.
Jeffrey Gandz is Professor, Managing Director Program Design, Executive Development,
Richard Ivey School of Business.
Gerard Seijts is Associate Professor of
Organizational Behavior and holder of the Ian O.
Ihnatowycz Chair in Leadership at the Richard
Ivey School of Business, University of Western
Ontario. He is also the executive director of the
Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership.
20 | Developing Leaders Issue 10: 2013
Despite much discussion about the need for leadership
development in corporate and public organizations, and
the considerable industry that surrounds it, this is the first
authoritative periodical focused entirely on this area.
Developing Leaders looks at the critical confluence between
the provision of executive education and the real everyday
needs of organizations to strengthen their management
teams, their corporate performance, and their leadership.
The publication presents the latest thinking and most recent
developments in both academic and commercial executive
education provision worldwide, what it is achieving and which
are the best models for success, sharing the experience and
expertise of top leaders and world class educators.
Developing Leaders is published in both hardcopy and
online “page turning” format. The quarterly magazine
complements the IEDP website - the definitive resource for
executive developers worldwide.
www.iedp.com